Crystal River
The Crystal River is a perfect river for a nice leisurely float, its crystal clear waters allows you to see right down to the river bed, and are perfect for swimming. Canoeing or kayaking the main stretch of river takes 2-3 hours, spanning 7 miles, most of which are in the Sleeping Bear National Park. Plus, for the extremely leisurely folk, you can bring your inner tubes and soak up solar rays while afloat, killing the two sunbathing and river-floating birds with one stone. At least, you can try this in the calm parts of the river. It's also pretty likely that you'll love the view.
Cool things to do: look for wildlife: Bald Eagles, Blue Herons, White Tail Deer, Otters, and many more. Eat a packed lunch on a riverbank. Stop to fish.
The COOLEST thing to do: shoot through the culverts in your canoe or kayak, or if you are feeling really adventurous go through in your life jacket.
Rent your boat at the Crystal River Outfitters .
Slow drift. For the last 10 years we have made this a family ritual of ours. With our thanks to the National Park Service for insuring attributes to our world like this are not eradicated forever. The kids float along next to the canoe in their PDFs, while we just drift... an occasionally snorkel. Aaahhh yes.... summer in northern Michigan.
Comment by Jon King — April 22, 2008 @ 9:29 am